I saw this knitting t-shirt on a website and I'm going to buy it for myself. I swear, I'm always reminding my husband that in the event of a catastrophic event, I have a very valuable skill in that I can knit us something to keep us warm and/or covered....

We bought this house in July 1997. Both DH and I had full-time jobs. In March 1998, I lost my full-time job, not to have one again until September 1999. That teaching position went away in August 2003, and I have not had full-time work since. Even before the economic crash, it took two full-time incomes to maintain a house in the S.F. Bay Area.

We've hung on to our house. It hasn't been easy. DH's job has been a blessed constant, while I've stitched together some part-time jobs, but my skills at

--scratch cooking
--mending clothes and in general taking care of them
--grooming our own animals
--growing veggies (organic for cheap!)
--fiscal discipline when we didn't "need" it so that the bad times weren't quite as bad as they could have been (bad enough, certainly; I have several chronic health conditions and DH is Type 2 diabetic)
--making various items we and the dogs/cats have needed (e.g., dog sling, other dog orthopedic supports)
--designing things we need which DH can make with his Makita (potting table for garden)

have definitely helped.

I also can't praise Freecycle highly enough. For those not familiar with it and its contributions to low-cost living, take a look at http://freecycle.org and note that the original--and still overriding--objective was to keep useful items out of landfills. But Freecycle has grown to become a non-cash way of acquiring some of the essentials of life (e.g., baby clothes) for many people and, for others, of divesting some no-longer essentials of life.

May your 2012 be less stressful than 2011 was. My 2010 and 2011 are, thank the Powers, in the rearview mirror. A third such year in succession will probably qualify me for some kind of stress-related disorder.

At least I have a yarn and a fabric stash to work from, although the yarn stash isn't quite self-sufficient....

Thanks for the party, Shandeh! I looked at your stash on Ravelry and can't imagine how long it must have taken to inventory/photograph everything. Amazing job!

How nice of you to do that, Shandeh! Happy New Year to you and may you have a very successful, happy and healthy 2012...

Sorry I missed the party (bed early, as always)...needed my beauty rest like never before, cuz I fell of my treadmill last evening, got shook up a bit, but mostly hurt my pride, hehe. Needed extra sleep to recover, Up at 5AM today (my usual rising time)....to wish everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Shandeh,
Thank you for the nice New Years Eve party!
It was fun reading all the posts and hearing about different projects and other things the knitters are doing.
I especially want to thank you for picking my name for one of the prizes.
I looked on the site this morning and told my husband, I don't know why I'm even looking because I never win anything.
Well, I was so surprised to see my name and the book I won.
I think I probably drove my husband nuts this morning when I kept saying to him, I'm a winner!! LOL. Really this is so nice of you.
I'm happy for the other winners too.
Happy New Year to all of you
Misty2275

Congrats to all the winners!! HAPPY NEW YEAR
Really cool stuff
I had a sick hubby to care for, but once he went to bed,
I got to check on the horse,since the fireworks were going
off everywhere here and then I finish the 2012 pocket.

Thanks again for hosting! This was my first party I went to that you hosted! (As only a week or something ago I discovered this site!!). I loved this party!! I am so glad I won a book! It was funny how you said that when you were shaking the box my name fell out! Well... I have to go get my Goose checked

__________________Keep On Knitting!!!!

The Following User Says Thank You to Chelsea716Knits For This Useful Post:

Thanks for the party, Shandeh! I looked at your stash on Ravelry and can't imagine how long it must have taken to inventory/photograph everything. Amazing job! DCM

I DO have a lot of yarn! And my stash grows every day, because people are always giving me more yarn for my charity knitting. When I first started entering my stash on Ravelry, I didn't have as much as I do now. I just started at one end of my craft room, and moved across.

Step 1: Grab a basketfull of yarn
Step 2: Photograph each different yarn
Step 3: Carry basket to computer, and enter it all
Step 4: Carry basket back to craft room, and put away

I just repeated those 4 steps until all the yarn was on Ravelry.

Now, it's just a matter of posting any new yarn I buy. As soon as I walk in the door with my yarn, I put it all on the sofa, or spread it out on my bed, and take photos. Then, I take it to the computer and enter it. Then, I find a place for it in my craft room.

I really like having every single skein of my stash on Ravelry. It makes my project planning very simple. I can sort my yarn stash on Ravelry by fiber, or color, or weight. I can also see how many yards I have of each yarn. It's nice having all that information at my fingertips. I can search through Ravelry patterns by weight and yardage, and plan projects very quickly!

(It sure beats my old way of doing things - searching through all my yarn, to see what I want to work with. Those days were crazy!)

Originally Posted by Woodi

Sorry I missed the party (bed early, as always)...needed my beauty rest like never before, cuz I fell of my treadmill last evening, got shook up a bit, but mostly hurt my pride, hehe. Needed extra sleep to recover.....

You poor thing!
I hope you didn't get hurt too bad.

Originally Posted by Misty2275

......I especially want to thank you for picking my name for one of the prizes.
I looked on the site this morning and told my husband, I don't know why I'm even looking because I never win anything.
Well, I was so surprised to see my name and the book I won.
I think I probably drove my husband nuts this morning when I kept saying to him, I'm a winner!!

I'm so glad to see that you are pleased with your prize!

Originally Posted by offgridgirl

.......I finish the 2012 pocket.
I made a few changes but here it is!!

Love it!
I really like the changes you made.

Originally Posted by Chelsea716Knits

........This was my first party I went to that you hosted!....I loved this party!! I am so glad I won a book! It was funny how you said that when you were shaking the box my name fell out! Well... I have to go get my Goose checked

I enjoyed our party as well! It was work on my end, but lots of fun too. I finally got to bed at 4 AM, and slept until 8:30 to go to church. (I am the organist.) After church, I came home and CRASHED....slept until 7 PM tonight!

Originally Posted by rachejm

.....It looks like you all had a lovely time. I'm sorry to have missed it but I just couldn't stay up. Fell asleep in front of the TV.

Sorry we missed you! Maybe next year.

Originally Posted by SunshineElaine

Yippee! I won something this year!! Thanks!! How do I send you my mailing address? I don't want to post straight to the board.

I just sent you a private message, so be sure to check for that. You can send your information to me that way, and no one else will see it.